In pressurized fluid systems, such as vehicular air conditioning systems, there are often a plurality of sections of flexible hosing. In a single system, these hose sections connect together the various system components such as a compressor, condenser, etc. A coupling member or hose assembly is required at each hose end to allow the hose to be secured to the various components between which the hose extends. The usual manner of securing the flexible hose to the component is to utilize a hose assembly having two concentric cylindrical portions spaced apart from one another by approximately the thickness of the hose. A radial extending flange usually secures the two concentric cylindrical portions to one another. The inner concentric member (fitting or nipple) includes an outer diameter approximately equal to the inside diameter of the hose to which it is being coupled. During assembly, the hose is slipped over the fitting and the outer concentric cylinder (shell or ferrule) is then crimped down upon the hose and the fitting to form a fluid-tight connection. The fitting for the typical hose assembly described usually includes grooves in the outer surface of the fitting to help grip the hose material and improve the seal between the inner surface of the hose and the outer surface of the fitting. With this style of fitting, the shell (ferrule) must be attached to the fitting in order to keep the fitting securely attached to the hose during operation.
Although the crimped ferrule-type hose assemblies described above are quite useful for many factory installed vehicular applications, they are less desirable for applications where hoses must be custom-made and/or installed in the field, such as for buses, off-road vehicles, and in retrofitting existing vehicles with air-conditioning, where the use of the specialty crimping tools needed to crimp the outer ferrule are impractical. For such applications, clamp-type fittings have been designed in which cylindrical bands or clamps are crimped down upon a hose end in which a fitting has been inserted. Examples of such fittings are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,480,897 and 6,010,162, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The clamps can easily be crimped using a pliers-type hand tool or alternatively using an air operated crimp tool. The ability to use a pliers-type hand tool makes installation in the field more practical and reduces overall assembly time.
To provide an adequate leak-free seal between the hose and a clamp-type fitting, barbs are formed along the outer surface of the fitting. In addition, o-rings are positioned within grooves formed in the outer surface of the fitting. Clamps are positioned over each o-ring and adjacent to a corresponding barb. Improper positioning of the clamps, such as partially over a barb, or apart from the o-ring, may result in a leak. Therefore, precise location of the clamps in association with the clamp-type fitting is critical. To precisely locate clamps in association with clamp-type fittings, it is common to utilize a clamp locator to which the clamps are attached. A portion of the clamp locator includes an attachment member or other locating surface at one end of the clamp locator that corresponds to a shoulder or other reference point on the fitting or located at the end of the hose. The clamps are attached to the clamp locator at predetermined distances from the locating surface such that the clamps will be located in the desired position along the fitting when the locating surface is placed in contact with the reference point of the fitting.
To ensure a secure connection between the clamp locator and the clamps during assembly of the hose to the fitting, clamp locators of the prior art are either spot welded to the clamps, or the clamps are located within clamp receiving channels formed in traverse plates or clips of the locator body. Such clamp locator configurations result in an integral connection between the clamps and the clamp locator when the clamps are crimped over the hose. Although in some cases, such as in the clamp locator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,162, the clamp locator will operate in conjunction with the clamps to maintain a secure connection between the hose and the fitting, in most applications once the clamps have been located and crimped the clamp locator is no longer necessary. In addition to being unnecessary, the existence of the clamp locator as a part of the installed hose assembly is aesthetically unpleasing and undesirable. Therefore it would be advantageous to provide a hose clamp locator that supports and locates one or more hose clamps during installation and crimping, which is releasable from the hose clamps and disposable upon completion of installation and crimping.